


Under the Glowing Lights

by Sitriga, YumiruMartins



Category: overwatch
Genre: Blueberry Lemon Tea, F/F, F/M, French Lemon Tea, Lemon Tea Maker, M/M, Multi, ginger spider, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-02-09 05:03:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12880737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sitriga/pseuds/Sitriga, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumiruMartins/pseuds/YumiruMartins
Summary: Emily is a Marine Biologist heading for the job of her dreams in a paradisaical island. Little she knows that, while she's been studying the local sea life, a pair of golden eyes has been studying her as well.





	1. The Winner

**Author's Note:**

> Yumi here! Well... this idea came from a conversation with Ping (<3), I told her that my headcanon is that my Emily is a Marine Biologist and she just reply "This would be a amazing mermaid au"  
> And don't take longer that I share this idea with Sarah (Sitriga) and we did all a universe and we start make a script with all information.  
> However we need to share our world to the world fandom and I sincerely hope that you enjoy this journey. <3  
> Thanks to our beta SutaSavvy and Ping also BzArcher for looking.
> 
> Sitriga here! When Yumiru told me about this idea I was like OMG girl, DO IT! Then we exchanged a lot of excited messages about scenes and how it could work, how it would be awesome to have this and that.... and before I knew it we were actually writing it. So here we are, hope you enjoy it!

“Cupcake, of course you can visit me! I’m just going to work in an island… In the middle of the Pacific Ocean.” The Emily scratched the tip of her nose, noticing how strange it sounded when she said it out loud over the phone. She instinctively looked down at her table, where the folder with all the paperwork lay open.

It had been barely a week since she received the email and the papers afterward. She jumped around the room like a child and, while she was usually ok with Lena being out because of her work with the RAF, she really got sad that the brunette wasn’t there to share her joy. She could have used her kisses and touch, too. But they’d have time for that in the future. That chance, that  _ job _ was an one-of-a-kind thing, and she would do nothing less than jump at it.

The redhead wanted to be a marine biologist for as long as she was a little girl, watching those old mermaid cartoons on TV. Everything in the ocean seemed to be so beautiful and full of life that  she wanted to know, to explore it all - actually this feeling grew up with her, as strong as it had always been. She couldn’t be half-fish, of course, but she surely could try to be there and help the ocean thrive as much as possible.

“What am I going to do when I’m back home? You are going to this Island in two days, isn’t it?” Her British girlfriend mumbled through the phone eventually Emily was pulled back from her memories. 

She suddenly felt bad, as she remembered she wouldn’t be able to see the scruffy, tiny, cute pilot for at least three months.

“Yes, I will.” She said, slowly, biting her lip. “They told me not to worry about equipment or anything else, they’ll arrange everything. They seem to be in a hurry, actually... Something about, and I quote ‘ _ it took so long to find someone with your qualifications _ ’. Made me damn smug, that sentence.” 

Lena laughed, and as it used to do, it made Emily think of sunny, warm things - like puppies. “Well luv, you  _ are _ bloody awesome at your field.  _ Indeed _ a real charmer. Who would resist?”

“Apparently not you, huh?”

“Definitely not me.”

She left a slow sigh “I’ll miss you. Also, I mentioned you to them and since you are in the military and all, they said it would be ok to have you come around sometimes. You’d have to sign some paperwork, though, confidentiality terms and such.” 

Emily could hear Lena smile against the phone. “That makes me happy to hear.” 

“So… How is it going in the RAF?” The redhead asked, pacing around the room. She wanted to cuddle with her girl, it was unfair they had to be apart.

“Y’know… the same thing. Not in bad way, but in a funny way, sure” 

They went silent for a moment.

“Luv?” Lena said, hesitantly.

“Yes?” 

  
“I have to go” 

“Ok, so.. bye… I’ll contact you when I can, cupcake.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it, luv.” 

Emily smiled and hang up the phone. She took a breath and finally sat down, taking the folder and papers for one more read.

There was the usual stuff describing the functions she was expected to perform - studying, cataloging and taking care of the local sea life, mainly - as well as the amount she’d be making a year (it was an almost obscene amount of money, even if she was well-paid in her previous job), a brief description of the island, its climate and topography, as well as some general warning about wildlife, vaccines and other stuff she skimmed through.

What caught her eye was the confidentiality term at the end. She had read it at least double the times she read the rest of the documents. It stated that she was not to reveal under any circumstances whatever discoveries she made at the island without previous approval by the concerning authorities. What could this really refer to? Her mind would go wild in excitement thinking what sort of endemic or absurdly rare species could reside there, to require such a term.

Emily turned to look at some pictures hanging in the wall - Many showing her trips to rivers and the sea, her diving among coral reefs and colorful fishes, making silly faces with Lena and kissing her...

She smiled and then got up, there were still some things she had to pack besides some letters additionally silly post-its she had to write and hang around the house for her girlfriend, to help her not to feel that lonely while she was out (and to remind her to do the laundry before she ran out of fresh clothes, as she used to do when unsupervised).

 

___

 

When she arrived at the airport and found the correct boarding gate, an old and imposing lady with an eyepatch was waiting for her with a younger one, both with brown skin, official uniforms and a similar tattoo below their eyes. They were clearly related, and more clearly yet, they were expecting her.

“Ms. D’Nort, over here!” The  younger woman said, with an arabic accent. As Emily got close, she noticed she was quite muscular and pretty too. If Lena was there, she’d have commented on it by now and got all red when they noticed her being indiscreet. “I’m Fareeha Amari, Chief of Security for the Mabel island. This is Director Ana Amari.” The older woman nodded in acknowledgement.

“Hello, nice to meet you!” Emily smiled brightly, shaking Fareeha’s hand. “ I-I’m so excited for this, you have no idea…!”   
  
Director Amari chuckled. “So are we, dear. Shall we…?”

They checked in consecutively got to talk a bit before boarding the plane. Emily learned that the Amaris were indeed mother and daughter, that the older woman had an extensive knowledge and taste for tea, quite like herself, eventually the younger woman wanted to know more about her girlfriend being at the RAF, which she was help to comply. At the mention of Lena’s name, Fareeha’s eyes went wide as plates.

“ _ Lena Oxton?! _ As in, the legendary fighter pilot?!” There was a tone of astonishment there that made Emily giggle. Her girl had a fan.

“Yes, that’s the one. Don’t let her hear you talk like that, though, or she’ll give me hell about how famous she is, the adorable dork. ” 

Director Amari snorted at that. “Faheera here loves planes. She  _ will _ be all over the girl if she visits, be warned.”

“Mother!” Fareeha got red pretty fast, in an embarrassed face that made her mother laugh out loud.

The two women were pleasant and easy to talk to, Emily noticed quickly, also if that was any indicative, they’d have a nice time working together. No one mentioned work or the island, she also noticed - probably because it was classified somehow.

The first airplane trip was fine and smooth, but the one afterwards, not so much. Turbulence struck hard enough that Emily could only muse on how Lena could fly all day in something like that and not be on the verge of passing out from it. After almost a day enclose a serious case of travel sickness and exhaustion later, she boarded a last seaplane, barely hearing as Director Amari told her it was a dangerous thing to get to the island by plane and that was why they used the small plane instead. She fell asleep almost immediately after sitting on her chair.

She woke up to the dying engines of the aircraft and a huge man taking her baggage out to a small pier. He had a nasty scar where his left eye used to be, thick white beard including hair combed back - the redhead was positive his arms were the size of trunks. Contrary to his menacing looks though, he opened a wide and warm smile when he noticed the woman was awake.

“Greetings, young lady!” He said in a german accent, his voice reverberating like the hit of a hammer. “Did I wake you up?”

“No, I… we’re here already?” She rubbed her eyes pursue sat straight, moving her shoulders and neck a bit.

“ _ Ja.  _ Ana and Pharah are outside, we were going to wake you up after I took your things out.”

“I see… boy, am I exhausted.” She got up groaning a bit, her legs felt sore and clumsy, she desperately wanted to undress and then go to bed. “I’m Emily D’Nort. Nice to meet you, Mr. …?”

“Reinhardt!” He clapped his hands and was as if thunder struck the aircraft.. “delighted to meet you too, young lady. I take it you want to head to your temporary quarters as soon as possible, don’t you? It’s just a little ride from here.”

They took a ragtop 4x4 to HQ, the view was certainly breathtaking: The moon was full and bright, casting a silver light over lush forest, waterfalls and huge cliffs - sometimes they passed by  crossed rivers that glistening with moonlight or they could see the sea down the beach. And boy, was it breathtaking. In addition that was only at night. Emily got butterflies in her stomach just to think of how the place could be at daytime, and that she’d actually get to work and live there.

HQ was a tall, robust building on one of the highest points of the island near a cliff, and it overlooked a good part of the place. Instinctively, Emily reached for her camera bag at her side, but remembered it was packed with the rest of her luggage. 

They took her through corridor explaining quickly which way lead to where and dropped by her room with her things incluing some instructions on time to meet the next day and where. After she took a bath and laid down, the redhead finally reached for her cellphone.

**Lena**

_ 8:06 pm  _

_ Hiya luv, how’s it goin? There yet? Let me know. _

_ 8:14pm _

_ Pub with the guys here. They’re drunk and arguing about  _ Frozen _. I’m  a _ The Incredibles _ girl myself, but this is so hilarious. I’m considering recording it to show you. _

_ 8:19pm _

_ Oh, they’re singing “ _ Let it go” _ now! Best thing that happened all day! _

_ 8:25pm _

_ [download video] Here, laugh with me! _

_ 10:21pm _

_ Luv you Em. I miss you already… _

  
  


Emily smiled. Lena was so sweet and lovely.

_ 10:56pm _ _  
_ _ I’m sorry I didn’t text sooner, but flying was hell today. I just got to my temporary room. The island looks amazing, it’s a shame I can’t send you pictures of it.  Love you too, cupcake! _

_ 10:58pm _

_ Of course you’re a  _ The Incredibles _ girl. It has superheroes in it. You love even the crappy superhero stuff like, I don’t know, those old Batman series from the 60s. I’m going to sleep now, I’m exhausted.  <3 _

The woman had already fallen asleep when she received a reply:

_ 11:06 _

_ Not fair, luv! Those are funny as hell. G’night. <3 _

\--

  
  


“ ...so that, ms. D’Nort, is the sum of what you’ll be doing in your workday,” Director Amari concluded. “Any questions?”

“None for now, but I’m sure they’ll appear as time goes by.” The woman nodded. It was as detailed on the documents sent to her days before, the director just put it in context with the island now that they could talk about it.

“Very well.” The older woman, that had been pacing around, finally sat down. “Now, the reason why this island is top secret, as you probably has been questioning yourself. We have reason to believe there’s an undiscovered, possibly extremely endangered sea species using this island as a mating place. The reports have been quite inconclusive, as they’re really shy and slick, but they gave us data enough to know we’re not dealing with anything we’ve seen before here. That’s why we were in such a hurry to bring someone as qualified as you out here. We need you to find these elusive little things.” the Director smirked, her eyes wise and clever as her age would suggest.

“Woah, I… that’s quite awesome.” Those words didn’t really cover what Emily thought of the situation, but they were the best she managed to find without squeaking like a little girl on Christmas’ eve. An undiscovered species needed her help and study on a paradisiacal island and they would pay her a lot of money for that. She was on top of the world, it seemed. There was no way it could go any better.

“Indeed it is. I’m sure you’re excited to start as soon as possible, so I’ll have Reinhardt give you the tour of the island, alongside Fareeha, Mei, our climatologist, and Satya, our architect. They’ll explain everything there is to know about the island, life here and security protocols.” The older woman smiled, placing her hands behind her back. “Off you go, then!”

\--

  
  


They used the same 4x4 ragtop car from the day before, and Emily could confirm that Mabel island was, in fact, the stuff of her dreams. Reinhardt knew all about the land, forests and paths of the place, often giving remarks about trails, animals and funny stories from his youth, all in his booming, excited voice. Mei was a sweet Chinese woman researching the impact of human interference (pollution mainly) on the seemingly clean and remote places such as the island, also she was a real delight to talk to, quite the opposite to Satya, the Architect. The Indian woman was stern and methodical, and Emily got the impression that she was analyzing even her internal structures in search of something unpleasant. She was brilliant, though  her clever usage of sustainable architecture had made the Island self-sufficient in terms of clean energy and drinkable water, not to mention the waste disposal system.

“...And this is your cabin!” Reinhardt said, proud. “I assembled it myself!”

“With my guidance, of course.” Satya added, a smirk forming in her lips.

“Of course.”

The cabin was atop a huge rock bordering a natural pool from the sea not really far from there. It was made entirely from wood, except for the solar panels on the roof, and had short stairs that led to a small platform over the pool below.

“It’s so charming! Thank you so much!”

“Let’s go inside, I have to explain some of the systems installed there.” Satya said, and immediately Fareeha jumped out of the car, helping her and the others out.

The interior was as charming as the exterior, Satya quickly explained how the energy system, the waste system and some other things worked. Leaving Emily’s luggage there, they headed back outside.

“Last stop is where you’ll be working.” Reinhardt said, pointing to a rocky archway the other side of the pool, covered in plants and moss. 

“Oh I love that place!” Mei said, almost bouncing on her feet, reminding Emily of Lena with that excited face. 

She realized what was so cool about it moments later. It was a cave with several exits to the sea, crystal clear waters that showed a considerably shallow area that deepened more and more until it got really deep, complete with underwater tunnels, and a dry, elevated area on a side where a lab was installed for Emily against the rock walls, with what she recognized as cutting-edge equipment for research and diving.

That time, she couldn’t stop herself from running there laughing like crazy and fangirling about all the specs with Mei.

“Look at this microscope!”

“I know!”

“And this equipment!”

“I know!”

“And the server!”

“I know!”

“I think I’m gonna die from excitement!”

“Oh please don’t, Emily. We need you here!” The young chinese woman put a hand on her arm, worried, and Emily smiled brightly.

“I’ll be fine. Wow, I’ll  _ definitely _ be fine.”

 

\--

 

It took her less than a week to properly settled in her home/work space and developed some routines. She immediately hanged photos on the walls she found herself staring at the most, although a lot of them showed her and Lena being their usual in love, dorky selves. It was a way to not feel so alone - including the fact that she had stolen some of her girlfriend’s favourite flannel shirts to take with her too. Books were carefully placed on the shelf next to the door and the clothes on the rather big closet. Still it didn’t look that much like a proper home yet, probably because she was yet to get used to it.

She was in love with the work there. The biodiversity in those tropical waters was astonishing, also she found herself filling lots of pages of data on species, behaviours, anatomy and what else she could come up with, although she barely got out of that cave yet. She was thrilled by the possibility of diving into the underwater passages.

The redhead absent-mindedly wrapped her hair in a high ponytail with an elastic band while reviewing some photos she took of a couple of  _ Ctenochaetus Striatus  _ that morning, then scrolling through the other species.  Putting the camera aside, she inspected some samples of the bioluminescent plankton that seemed to be abundant at the area and gave a small nod of approval. Things were going well there. The sea life was healthy and thriving.

Putting on some headphones in order to focus - music always helped with that, especially a band she had found recently, called Mother Mother - she went to her computer and started writing down some notes, until she had a strange feeling that someone was watching her. Turning around there was nothing in sight, so she shrugged and went back to work.

This feeling of being watched would come and go on the next two weeks therefore Emily blamed working alone for it - her mind surely was tricking her. It could very well be that some little animal made a nest nearby and gave her this impression as it passed by. 

Sometimes she’d go to HQ to report and show her progress, sometimes Mei would visit and get excited about the colorful fish and data Emily had collected, sometimes Emily would go to Reinhardt’s cabin (quite similar to hers, probably because he built both) to hear stories during lunch times. The staff was really friendly, welcoming and the young woman almost didn’t feel alone at all there.

Almost. She did miss Lena a lot, that was something she couldn’t do much about besides messaging, sending silly pictures and having videochats sometimes. Thus was why, when the flannel shirt she had snatched from the brunette disappeared, Emily got so upset.

It wasn’t the first thing to disappear: Some pens, her toothpaste tube(that she was certain she hadn’t removed from the bathroom since she put it there on the first day), some rubber bands, even some vials from the lab went missing before, but she simply thought she had misplaced them all. The shirt was something else entirely - she slept with the thing on, it was impossible that she just misplaced it.

_ Maybe it’s a curious monkey or something _ . She thought to herself one night, as she walked back to the cabin.  _ I have to ask Reinhardt if that sort of thing has happened before. _

She was in the middle of the staircase when she remembered she left a book she wanted to read at the lab, so she cursed mentally and went back slowly to the cave.

When she got there, she heard grunting and the sound of something wet moving through the rock. What could it be? Some sort of lizard, or…?

As she approached she saw a fish tail, one too big to be the usual stuff she saw around the place. It didn’t just get washed there.

She scanned around for something she could use to defend herself and got a rock the size of her hand from the ground.  _ Better that than nothing at all _ , she thought.

Then she ran to the lab, shouting as if it could give some courage.

What she saw there was unexpected - a human. Well, not  _ really _ a human, because she had this periwinkle color, flashy yellow eyes and  _ a fish tail _ , but still.

Taking advantage of her shock, the fish-woman made her best to bounce - slither, crawl? It was difficult to tell between the dim light of the place and the surprise - back to the water, knocking down some of Emily’s equipment in the process. That snapped the ginger out of the shock and she run after the woman, jumping to grab her tail as she leapt to the water. She was able to grab it for a moment, the woman taking her down the pit and trying to shake her off frantically, but she couldn’t hold her breath for long and let go, heading back for the surface. 

Only one thing was in her mind at the moment:

_ Was that a fucking mermaid?!I _

She wasn’t really thinking straight enough to answer.

\---


	2. Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yumiru:"Hm... Just warning that Amélie speaks like she has singing. Sarah and I have discussed about let like this "III Thhhink I doo" But this would be struggling to the reader, even to us, we were struggling in longs phrases repeating the letters. So to explicit that ours mermaid speak like singing we let their lines underline to make it more easier.  
> So When you read anything underline you'll imagine in your head they singing xD  
> Also there are lines in French. And I hate use google translator as well make others people use it too. So I'll let the French lines translates with those signals [Translation or just T: French line to English]"
> 
> Sitriga: Hey! God, This is so much fun to write, you guys have no idea the _sort_ of things we come up with while talking about this fic. Really, lol.
> 
> On an unrelated note, does anyone know why Ao3 does the weird thing with spacing the paragraphs miles away from each other? I seem to have to edit it every time...!

A mermaid. She had seen a _fucking_ _mermaid._

Emily got out of the water and ran clumsily to her equipment, grabbing a floodlight and turning it on towards the water, expecting to see a glimpse of the elusive creature she had just met. What she saw was a pool of crystal-clear water that went down until it got too dark to see, like always.

She bit the corner of her lip, thinking of an alternative plan, and ran to the sonar device. Surely it could have detected the disturbance left in the water, right? It could give her a reading to begin working with, and… wait. She had fallen into the water too, that would mess up all the data…

Frustrated, she groaned and hit a hand against the desk, regretting it immediately as it hurt. She had to think, for God’s sake. She was a _scientist_ , not a _barbarian_.

There were cameras on the lab. They could have registered the encounter!

Emily got up with a huge smile. Rational thinking would take her somewhere, not anger or frustration. She almost ran to her cabin, thinking of all the ways she could tell Director Amari that she probably made the most awesome discovery in a century, she just had to see the cameras, and...!

The redhead stopped once again at the stairs. What were the chances they already knew about the mermaid? Had she appeared around the island before, had she been _spotted_ before? If not… there had to be a reason why she wanted to stay hidden, right? Would Emily really outed her like that, with possible consequences to her security?

Frustrated, she shouted to the water “Who are you, lady?! How do you even exist?!”

With that, she went home, took a longer bath than she usually did, put on pajamas and went to see something on the TV to distract herself.

She couldn’t.

Before she knew, she was searching her books and the internet for info on mermaids and how they could work _if_ they were real. She found a lot of crap in dubious sites, fanfiction, some artworks that while cool, were biologically unlikely, and threads on forums that lead nowhere. Her academic books had nothing on the subject, of course, since it was largely believed to be a myth. Which it wasn’t, she just found out. That complicated things a great deal.

Emily had no further ideas on how to search for something that she had absolutely no data on, but maybe she needed an outside opinion, one that was way more imaginative than her. She smiled and grabbed her cellphone.

_Lena_

_11:34 pm_

_Hey cupcake, care to give me some help here?_

_What would you do, say, if you found an unknown aircraft in one of your missions, one that you were positive no one had seen before?_

 

It took a couple of minutes that felt like hours for her girlfriend to reply.

 

 

 

_11:37 pm_

_Hey gorgeous, how are you? ;D_

_Uh… I guess I’d have to report it right away, also take some pictures if I could. Why? Have you found something already? Damn, you’re such a genius, Em!_

 

_11:38 pm_

_Not really, no. I may have spotted something unusual but I need further confirmation and complementary data, which I have not gathered yet because it was all really sudden._

 

 

 

 

_11:41 pm_

 

_Aw, rubbish. Guess you’ll have to wait then, to see if it happens again. Don’t get frustrated, it’s not your fault._

_11:45 pm_

_You’re blaming yourself, aren’t you? Here, something to cheer you up. [attached file]_

 

Emily giggled as she opened the photo, which showed a bunch of puppies playing with bubbles on a field.

 

 

 

 

_11:46 pm_

 

_Not as good as me being delivered to your doorstep inside a cake wearing just a bow tie but hey, that’s life._

 

_11:47 pm_

_You’re such a dork!_

_I’d love to receive you like that, though. Preferably right now <3 _

 

They texted, giggled and told each other about their day as the night went on. Emily didn’t notice how much she relaxed just by interacting with the brunette, but she did know she missed her greatly and wanted her to just materialize out of thin air. If mermaids exist, that probably could be arranged, right?. _She’d be flipping out if she was here_ , she thought, _but I don’t even know if I should tell her._

Before long she fell asleep on the couch, her phone displaying a last message from Lena asking about the security chief that liked planes.

 

\--

 

Days passed and Emily waited patiently for anything unusual to come up, all sensors and equipment turned on so she could track exactly what was going on in the area.

Nothing happened. Not even a hair band left invitingly near the water had disappeared.

She was starting to think she hadn’t actually seen a mermaid, that it was something else and her tired mind played her at the time. The lab was dark, after all, and she was alone - it wasn’t difficult to imagine things, even for her.

The problem was, something at the back of her mind told her she had seen exactly what she thought and wouldn’t let go of the idea, it didn’t matter how absurd it sounded. Then, more to ease her mind than from actually believing it, Emily started formulating a plan to see the mermaid again. At first, she thought about using a modified fish trap, but that was an awful idea - the mermaid _wasn’t a fish,_ she’d see right through it and think Emily was trying to hurt her. No, she needed something else, something non-threatening and nice… but what could it be?

The biologist remembered the pack of colorful elastic hair bands she had in her room and had an idea. Maybe she could use them to lure the mermaid to a spot and… have a kind of dinner there? She knew the woman visited at night to snatch her things. Maybe she’d like to eat something, right? With her?

That was kind of a stupid idea and could go wrong in so many ways, but the readhead ran back to her cabin humming a song, thinking about the flavor of the cake she’d be baking and if the blue woman would like tea.

 _Tea and cake with a mermaid_ , Emily thought, amused. _If Lena knew about this, she’d be so excited…_

 

\--

 

At night, everything was ready. The trail of elastic bands, the chequered tablecloth on the relatively flat rock, a lamp, the food properly set and covered from insects or animals and lemon tea, Emily’s favourite. She sat at a small cushion she brought and waited, anxious.

And waited...

And waited.

Emily was almost asleep when she heard a faint and wet dragging sound. _She might be here and waiting for me to fall asleep,_ she thought. _Ok, I can play this game._

She kept her eyes shut and ears sharp.

“What is this?” She heard the mermaid say, and immediately had two thoughts: She spoke like she was singing and _god,_ her voice was so _hot._ It wasn’t fair for someone to have a voice like that, although she _was_ a mermaid, and they were supposed to lure people to their deaths with their singing…

 _Ok, not the best train of thought, Emily._  
  
The redhead risked opening one eye slightly and could see the mermaid eating a tiny piece of cake, making a funny surprised face and grabbing some more, then she went to sniff the tea, warily. She mumbled something about it smelling too sweet and left it alone. Then she approached and Emily closed her eye again before she saw it. The mermaid did nothing at first - Emily thought that she was probably taking a better look at her human features and all - but then she started poking slowly the redhead’s cheek, traced her lips and neck - suppressing the shivers was a real challenge - and finally, she poked her boobs. The biologist kept repeating the same words in her head like a mantra:   _This is all for science and contact, this is all for science and contact, I just hope she would stop poking my goddamn--_

As if the blue woman was listening to her thoughts, she grabbed her t-shirt and pulled it up until the belly button appeared. There was a tense pause, the biologist didn’t know what the mermaid was up to and it was starting to make her anxious… then she poked Emily’s navel.

”She has a hole in the middle with an end!”

After she heard that Emily couldn’t handle her poker face. She started giggling madly and startled the mermaid that immediately backed away, every muscle in her body tense as a bowstring.

“Wait! Please! I won’t hurt you!”  Emily raised her hands as a sign of peace, but that didn’t stop the blue woman from going back to the water in a heartbeat.  The redhead came to the edge of the rocky path, her face almost touching the water. “If I had any intention of hurting you I wouldn’t have let you get so close, I’d have caught you in a net instead...”

Stupid, _stupid_ idea.

“You are human, how could I trust you?”

She raised her face to see the mermaid at the other side of the pool, her head above the water only to the level of her golden, distrustful eyes.

Emily just blinked at first, thinking of an answer: “I dunno, miss. You must have been studying me for days or even weeks. Don’t you have any questions?”

The mermaid seemed to consider this for a moment.

”This… Why your… is like this?” She pointed to Emily’s hair.

A lovely smile appeared in the biologist’s lips because of the way the mermaid spoke, trying her best to sound coherent.“You mean my red hair, don’t you?”

The creature with gold eyes nodded.

“Well, I have a recessive gene which makes my hair red. It’s been passing through my ancestors and I got lucky, I think.”

“There are….many like you?” Asked the blue woman, letting her face out of the water a little more, visibly curious.

“No... well, there are some in specific places, but not as much as there were in the...” Emily paused, both thinking on how to explain things and shifting to a more relaxed position, putting her legs up to her calves in the water. “There was a period in human history where people with red hair were believed to be evil and dangerous, so they were hunted down and sentenced to death, mostly by fire… so yeah, there’s not as many gingers now.”

The mermaid inclined her head, thoughtful. “So now you hunt the fish and the mermaids.”

Emily was caught off-guard by that. “No! No we don’t! I mean, I don’t know about the others, but _I_ certainly don’t, god! I’m a marine biologist, I _care_ for sea life, you know, I don’t _kill it._ ”

“You care how?”

“Studying them, seeing if they’re healthy, doing what is possible when they aren’t…”

The mermaid looked like she didn’t buy much of it, but she dropped the subject and pointed to the plates and cups.

“Oh, do you want more?! Of course! Of course I can give you more… just a moment.” She jumped up and went to grab cake and tea, and when she turned back the mermaid was leaning on the rock with her chin resting on her hands and eyes more curious than wary. The redhead got tense. She was close now, she couldn’t do anything to make her flee again. “I’ll put it here and give you some space, ok?”

She crouched slowly and put the plate and cup midway to the mermaid, then took some steps back. Slowly, never breaking eye contact, the blue woman got up the rock and grabbed the cake, eating it almost immediately.

“You don’t like tea?” Emily raised an eyebrow, pointing to the cup.

“It smells strange.”

“Just take a sip… here, I’ll do it first, so you’ll know it’s not poison or… something.” Emily got to the cup and drank, making sure the mermaid could see she was doing it for real, then put it back on the floor “Now you try it.”

The mermaid looked at the cup with distrust, but picked it up slowly and took it to her lips. “It is… good…!”

She looked quite surprised, and Emily giggled.“You’re free to come visit me and drink some tea.”

In reply she just received a “Merci” and the Mermaid dove back to the pit, disappearing in the dark. Emily let her shoulders fall, sighing heavily.

 _Well, better than nothing, I think._ _Did she really say ‘_ merci’ _or did I misheard it…? hm..._

She got up, stretching a bit, and went to take her food and tea back to a proper table, along with the cups and the tablecloth. That was when she noticed the mermaid took the cup with her and giggled, imagining those curious golden eyes examining it.

 

\--

 

The next weeks were progressively more exciting to the young marine biologist. She went on with her research, always leaving a different type of food and tea near the edge of the pool where she met the mermaid, and taking it back -empty - to the cabin at the end of the day. Emily was fully aware she was being watched by her a lot of the time, but she made her best to go on with her life as if nothing had happened to give her space. She’d come and talk eventually.

One day Emily put on full diving gear and went outside in a boat, heading for the coral reef nearby. She hadn’t gone there yet and the mere thought of diving there and seeing that kind of beauty made her have goosebumps for anticipation.

She checked her oxygen tank one more time, made sure the mask was properly tied, grabbed her sampling instruments and dove.

The water around the island was so clear that she immediately saw the barrier reef below. It was a huge, colorful, lively structure with its exquisite shapes, algae and inhabitants: schools of colorful fish gave way as she passed by, graceful and startled by the sudden visitor; mollusks walked lazily on the hard corals, sometimes hiding in their shells; sponges kept cool and did their thing (they were sponges, after all, and wouldn’t react abruptly to anything), and Emily could swear she even saw a kind of crustacean that hid too fast for her to identify.

It was wonderful, it was unique, and she felt home _._

As much as she liked being a human woman and doing things above the water, she couldn’t deny the pull the sea had on her. Diving among the coral and the fish, it was as if time itself didn’t matter, her problems didn’t exist and everything as just as it should be, the delicate balance untainted by humanity. That was why she almost felt bad about collecting samples, even as small as she would gather. _It was for science,_ she told herself, a _nd it wasn’t harmful. She knew all the procedures and would do it as gently as she could._

Emily had filled half the vials she had brought with different types of calcium carbonates, algae and other organic residues when she noticed a pair of familiar golden eyes staring behind some sponges. She opened a smile, although it wasn’t visible because of her gear, so she waved slightly.

The mermaid disappeared behind the reef.

 _Well, what did you expect?_ The redhead thought, sighing internally _It’s not like she’s your--_

She turned, startled, to find the mermaid inches from where she stood, a curious look in her face. “What are you doing?” She said, her voice clear and silky as always, even in the water. “You going to study these too?”

Emily nodded, getting a bit closer.

“They are boring. I have better things for you to study.”

With that cryptic line she swam away, leaving the biologist quite puzzled there. What did she mean, better things? _Those_ were the type of things she was supposed to study.

She discovered what the mermaid meant when she came back with an adorable, tiny octopus in her hands, no taller than 2 inches and with arms that were probably as long as a pen. It shrunk a bit against the mermaid when it saw Emily, and the biologist would squeak pathetically in delight if the equipment would let her - but thankfully, it wouldn’t.

“You like animals, non? I only see you with the plants and the rocks…”

Emily nodded profusely, reaching for her underwater camera, then she stopped. Taking a photo of the cephalopod would mean she’d have a photo of the mermaid too, and she didn’t know if that was something she should do. The less proof they had of her existence, the safer she was, probably.

“What is the matter?”

How could she explain? It was not like she could talk. She wasn’t even sure the mermaid knew how photos worked, so there was that too. What she could do was approach it in a different way.

The redhead showed her hand, pointing to it with the other one. _Bring it to me,_ she wanted to say. The other woman tilted her head to the side, raising her eyebrows. Then Emily pointed to her hand, pointed to the octopus and back to her hand.

“Oh, you want it? You could have said so, you know.” She swam by the biologist, circling her in an enticing way before stopping before her and holding out her hands to pass the tiny octopus. The little creature wrapped its arms around her fingers and didn’t want to let go, though. “Don’t be like that, little one. She’s not going to hurt you” And then she glanced at the biologist as if she dared her to do it.

Emily reached out to the octopus with a finger and caressed it’s squishy head for a moment. It was scared, it was better to let it go back home. She put her hands together and mimicked releasing something, hoping it was enough for the mermaid to understand.

She quickly went to a reef and put the cephalopod there, watching it quickly disappear between the corals. “No little animals then.” Her voice was a bit disappointed, but soon she was swimming back to the biologist with rocks and shells and what else she thought was interesting enough for her research.

Emily was flattered and surprised by that, but she had to explain how she did her work, so the mermaid wouldn’t be upset when she didn’t take anything. She pointed up and started swimming to the surface, with her blue companion close behind.

As soon as her head was out of the water and she was taking out the mask, her ears were flooded by questions.

“Why didn’t you take the octopus, the rocks or the other things? Why aren’t you talking? What is this weird skin? It’s ugly. You should shed it as you did with the others.”

“Shed…? Now, hold on a moment!” Emily took a deep breath and released, putting her mind back in place before going on. “This is not skin, it’s a suit. I dress it, not shed it. I can’t talk underwater, otherwise I’ll drown. Do you know what it is, drowning?”

The blue woman’s expression darkened. “Yes, yes I do.”

“Uh…” It was better to change the subject, quickly. “ I don’t take things with me.I just need small pieces to study, like the ones I gathered… and god, you got me an atlantic pygmy octopus! Thank you so much, it was so beautiful…!”

“But you didn’t even hold it…”

“Oh, don’t be upset, I’m sorry! It was scared of me. I don’t think that’s a thing that happens to you by what I’ve seen, but marine life is not used to people wandering in their habitat. It felt bad to startle it further.”

“Startle…?”  
  
“Yes, frighten, make it more scared than it already was.”

“Ah.”

“Well, I think I’ll call it a day. Want to join me back at the lab…?” Just then it dawned on her. “Oh I don’t know your name! You _do_ have one, don’t you?”

“Of _course_ I do! ” She looked quite offended for a moment. “It’s Amélie!”

Emily just stared for a moment, then erupted in laughter. _Of all the names in the world…!_

“pourquoi est-ce que vous rirez?” [T: "Why are you laughing?"]  
  
“C 'est drôle comme nos noms se ressemblent - Wait. [T:"Because it's funny how similar is our names-] I knew it! You’re French! Oh my skookum God, a _French mermaid!_ ” 

“What is a French?” she raised an eyebrow, her eyes piercing the ginger.

“Someone who was born in… France?” She blinked, stopping “You do know France, right? A country?”

The mermaid stared at her blankly.

“Jesus _fuckin’_ … ok, let’s go to the lab and I’ll tell you all about it. Oh, by the way” the redhead smirked, suddenly amused by something “my name is Emily.”

She stared long enough to see the look of surprise on Amélie's face, then went back to her boat giggling.

 

\--

 

Emily explained what France was to Amélie. In fact, she explained a lot of other geopolitical things too, in order to get to that specific country, but once that was done, it was really nice to see the look of enlightenment on her face. Turns out mermaid society wasn’t exactly organized the as the human one, but that was all the blue woman said about the subject.

“Are there other like you in France?” Amélie looked at her with eyes full of unrestrained interest, making Emily blush slightly under the inspection.

“You mean ginger people? Sure, there must be some everywhere - minus in Antarctica, nobody really lives there.”

Amélie made a little noise of acknowledgement, nodding to herself, her purple tail moving thoughtfully in the pool.

“Say Amélie, why all the interest in redheads like me? Have you never seen one before?”

The mermaid raised an eyebrow. “No I haven’t. There is none of my kind that have starfish hair.”

“Really?!” That almost made the biologist jump from her seat in surprise. No ginger mermaids? _At all?_

“Yes. but my interest is more about you, _chérie._ ”

The flirt passed by Emily and she was completely blind to it, lost in her own shocking thoughts.

There were no ginger mermaids. The Little Mermaid was a _lie._ Her whole career was influenced by a lie. Her life was adrift in an endless abyss of conflict and despair at the moment, propelled by the sudden discover that her favourite movie ever was an utter, cruel lie, despite of course, being an animated piece meant to entertain with no ties to reality whatsoever.

“Sacrament!” [T:"Damn!"] She growled under her breath then sighed theatrically, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Amélie didn’t get what was going on at all. Why did humans have to be so complicated…?

 

\--

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yumiru: "Emily is Canadian in our universe (>:3c) and she came from Quebec or she grown up in there? Well... We still deciding this.  
> So she can have conversation with Amélie in her Native language xD  
> Here picture of the octopus scene <3  
> Link: http://www.uwphoto.net/content/ci/wp_small/ci00-130.jpg  
> We are have such fun with this world. Thanks to Dead Bread for helping with French phrases uwu <3  
> Ps: If you didn't get across the part "This is all for science and contact, this is all for science and contact, I just hope she would stop poking my goddamn--" Amélie just... poked Emily's nipple (hahahaha)  
> See you in the next chapter ~ (; "


	3. Report

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yumi: Well... Enjoy, I hope you all like it. :3

The tall, dark-skinned woman went straight to her desk, grabbed a folder and glanced at the papers inside. A detailed log of their new employee’s internet and phone activity, including instant messages, was contained there. She sat down with a satisfied noise and took them out of the folder, ready to go through the content and make a report of her own.

 

Fareeha was almost finished when she heard a very particular - and smug - voice behind her.

 

 _“¡Hola!”_ That tone made her smile, although she wouldn’t turn to face the woman and give her the satisfaction of knowing this.

 

“Isn’t it too early for you to be here?” Fareeha said, taking a look with the corner of her eye: a woman with a slightly darker skin played with the locks of her purple hair, sitting by the pool nearby.

 

“So cold _mi amor_ , you break my heart.” She waved her hand in an exaggerated motion, sighing theatrically. " Satya already did her part, you have to do yours. Don’t leave your water girl here waiting! I learned to brush my teeth, wasn’t that de deal?”

 

Fareeha rolled her eyes. She could never decide if she did that to annoy her or because she was genuinely this extra.

 

“I have to finish a report.” Fareeha sighed, lifting the folder a bit for the woman to see.She didn’t want to look and find that smug smile.

 

“I won’t take so much your time, _mi humana._ ”

 

“... fine, fine.”

 

The chief of security put away the documents and got up lazily, stretching her neck a bit. The woman stared at her every step with a mix of amusement and desire. Fareeha felt herself blush a bit, cursing mermaids and their intense, somewhat hypnotic gaze.

 

“Be quick.” She ordered, crouching in front of the woman.

 

“ _Sí, sí..._ ”

 

Soon enough the mermaid enlaced her by the neck and kissed her, bringing Fareeha forward with her weight. The chief of security pulled her closer by the waist as the kiss deepened, and they were almost falling in the pool when they broke apart for air.

 

“Enough?I really have to--” Fareeha asked, now much more tenderly, trying to remove the arms around her.

 

“Nooooo, just one more!” She moaned, trying to kiss the chief again.

 

“Sombra, we’re going to fall in the pool!”

 

“I fail to see the problem there” Sombra chuckled.

 

“ _Of course_ you don’t see it, you witty mermaid, but I’m already soaked and it would be really inconvenient if--”

 

Sombra took the opportunity and kissed her, slipping to the pool and bringing her along with a loud splash.

 

\--

  


Director Ana Amari merely raised an eyebrow as Fareeha entered the room, taking a sip of her tea. The young woman was soaked - even if she threw in a jacked on top of her clothes and tied her hair in a bun, that fact was still clear as day.

 

“Had a run in with your mermaid, dear?” Ana smirked, putting the cup down.

 

Fareeha looked away, flustered. “I’d rather not discuss that on the workplace…”

 

“You clearly didn’t have the same restraint as you two made out, I’m sure.” She laughed, amused, and Fareeha blushed even more.

 

“A-anyway. Here’s the report…” She cleared her throat, straightening her posture and giving the director a file “Emily D’Nort had contact with an undocumented mermaid. Her behaviour has been pretty positive so far, but we know better than to take it for granted. We’ll keep on watching, and Reinhardt is patrolling closer by, in case we need him.”

 

Ana nodded, skimming through the papers with a grave look on her face.

 

“Your personal opinion on the matter?”

 

“She looks quite mystified by the whole thing, ma’am. And amazed. They seem to have a healthy exchange going on.”

 

“That’s promising.” The woman sighed, shifting her weight on the chair. “Finally.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

“I’ll read the report carefully and well talk further about this, Fareeha. You can go now. If you see Satya, could you please send her my way? And say hi to Sombra for me.” Ana chuckled.

 

“Uh… sure. “ She nodded respectfully and went out the door. God, she had to take out those wet clothes, damn Sombra…!

 

\--

  


It was that time of the month.  Emily had been fine, but she read the signs as she felt her mood shifting, her body getting puffy and a craving for sweets - then the cramps finally came, relentless, uninvited and brutal like a dozen horses stomping her womb.

 

She took some medicine, but it was taking too long to work. Sitting in her chair at the lab, she felt like slipping to the floor, limp, and being a miserable mess there instead. At least it didn’t require any of the effort sitting did.

 

“Emily? Hi! Can I come in?”

 

The redhead raised her eyes. Mei’s voice echoed on the cave, and she tried to smile for the chinese woman, but she was aware that it probably looked more like a pain grimace. “Sure…!”

 

“Are you ok…?” Mei approached, concerned.

 

“My period came stronger than ever this month” Emily sighed, passing a hand through her hair. “Sorry about that.I took some pills but it’s taking too long...”

 

“Poor girl! I can make you some tea, family recipe, it always helps me.”

 

“Thanks, but you don't need to bother.... I can…” her voice died and her eyes went wide as plates as she saw a pair of curious yellow eyes looking at her from the pool. “Well, you can use my kitchen, but I don’t know if you’ll find anything useful…”

 

“Don’t worry about that!” Mei gave her a playful look. “Be right back!”

 

The climatologist went out of the cave at a quick pace, humming to herself. Emily instantly turned to where Amélie had been, but she was nowhere to be found. She probably guessed what was going on and hid.

 

“Just stay away until I say so, dear!” The redhead said to the empty cave, her voice echoing on the walls. Even raising her voice like that made her cramps worse and she whimpered, putting a hand over her womb. “Ugh… stupid period… let me die already....”

 

Mei came back with a vacuum flask and a mug, putting the content on the mug and giving it to Emily. It had a wonderful smell of ginger and chamomile, maybe honey too.

 

“Drink it, you’ll feel better.”

 

“Thanks, luv.” Emily raised an eyebrow, smiling amused at how she mindlessly mimicked her girlfriend’s accent.

 

“You’re british?” Mei looked surprised. “I thought I saw somewhere you were from Canada…!”

 

“I am.” Emily giggled, but it hurt so she stopped quickly. “My girlfriend is from England, though. In fact, I think she’s the most british mess of an adorable person I’ve ever knew. And she hates when I mimic her, says it doesn’t sound british at all.”

 

Mei laughed, pulling a chair. “From what I’ve heard of her, she seems like a nice person. It must be hard to be apart. I can’t imagine…”

 

“It’s not like we’re strangers to it, to be honest. Lena works with the RAF, so she’s always travelling.” The biologist shrugged. “But yes, it’s hard, I miss her all the time. We talk a lot, though... But what about you, I can’t believe such a cute and nice woman like you doesn’t have anyone to call your own!”

 

Mei immediately got the same tone as Emily’s hair.

 

“I-I… well… what do you think of the island so far? Is it what you e-expected?”

 

She giggled. “It’s much more, in fact…”

 

They had a nice talk about life in the Island, and before long Emily noticed the tea and the pills kicked in and her cramps got to a tolerable level, making life in general much more enjoyable.

 

Mei left her with a promise that she’d come running should the redhead call, and she thanked her, but said she surely only needed to rest, maybe she’d stop and lay down for a moment.

 

Emily waited at least ten minutes before she said to the empty cave: “You can come now.”

 

It was almost silent except for the waves crashing on the beach some distance away, but she knew how to identify that wet sound anywhere. She opened the small fridge she used to keep samples in good condition and took a sandwich from there, something she had prepared for herself but wouldn’t eat in her current state.

 

“Why do you want to die?” Amélie said behind her, almost a whisper.

 

“Oh, so you heard that…?” Emily turned to face her. The mermaid had the mask of her diving gear on, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the vision. “Amélie, take that off!”

 

“You use it underwater. why can’t I use it here?”

 

“Because you don’t need it to breathe air, silly. Ouch. Ow, ow… _fuck!”_ She stumbled back and sat down, putting a hand over her womb as a particular bad wave of pain hit her, despite the medicine.

“You’re in pain. Are you going to live…?” The mermaid came in her direction, taking the mask off, worried, and put her hands on the biologist’s knees. “Go to the light!”

 

The last phrase made Emily giggle.“Oh, dear…wasn’t it supposed to be ‘don't go to the light?’ Nevertheless, this is common to a lot of human women once a month...”

 

“Why?”

 

“I wish I could say that the world or biology is unfair with humans women. But… it’s called period. It’s when our organisms simple get clean from all the days that they waited for a child, but it didn’t come. It’s like demolishing a house or something. With a wrecking ball.”

 

“Chérie, that's…”

 

“Awful? I agree.” Emily sighed, and they stood in silence for a moment.

 

“May I… stay with you?” The mermaid tilted her head, an anxious glint on her eyes.

 

“Sure… but… I may not be the best company right now. I really just want to stay in bed... Watching something, maybe.” Emily closed her eyes and suddenly felt a cold hand in her hair, stroking softly. “That's very helpful… hmm.. I guess I have an idea. How long you can stay out of water?”

 

“Some time, I guess?”

 

It dawned on her that the mermaid probably had a different way to track the time, as clocks were pretty much an human thing. She’d have to ask later.

 

“Well… would you like to come with me to the cabin?”

 

Amélie’s eyes flashed with interest and she nodded.

 

“Fine. Let me just run a program here and we’ll be off.”

  


\--

 

Emily’s living room looked like a den made of a mattress, blankets and pillows, the and biologist made herself comfortable there with a happy sigh. Amélie poked the mattress before getting on it, testing its surface. If the face she made was any indicative, she didn’t expect it to be so soft.

 

“Come here” the redhead said with a warm smile and offered her hand. “It’s nice, I promise, and you can always leave if you don’t like it.”

 

The mermaid raised an eyebrow and went to her in a clumsy, childlike way. Emily helped her getting in a comfortable position and just stood there for a moment, looking at her periwinkle friend. Amélie was gorgeous, that was undeniable, but she was also cute and so innocent on her ignorance of the human ways. Always curious and sharp. It all made Emily want to hug and squeeze her, then lay her down and....

 

Wait. _wait wait wait WAIT._

 

_FUCKING PERIOD._

 

If the mermaid noticed how she blushed wildly, she didn’t let her know; Instead she was amazed by the moving people talking on the television. _Thanks God,_ Emily thought. She didn’t know if she could deal with the questions it would’ve brought.

 

“They are so tiny! how do they fit in this?”

 

“Oh no, they’re not actually there… it’s a broadcast. Hm… like… they’re actually thousand of miles away, but we have those cameras, and they record the images in the moment so we can see it later on TV”

 

“I didn’t understand a word of that…” Amélie sighed.

 

“Uh… don’t bother with it now. I’m gonna put the film on... Do you remember what I told you?”

 

She nodded. “Yes, if I feel dry I’ll ask you for water and the bat… batro… whatever, the room with the water is on the corner, you can give me a bath.”

 

“Yes, nice. There’s just two things now.” She took off the elastic band from Amelie’s hair. “It’s not good to have it on all the time.. You should take it off. By the way, this is also mine, right?” The mermaid nodded, shameless, and Emily shook her head. “Figured. Next… put it on.” She threw a T-shirt at Amélie, that looked at it confused.

 

“why?”

 

“Because I’m not comfortable having you naked at my house when I have a girlfriend.”

 

 _And my mind keeps doing those things,_ she thought, _because my hormones are running wild._

 

“Humans and their weird rules...” The mermaid mumbled to herself, but she put the shirt on after some trial and error(like trying to put her head through the arm hole and failing notoriously). “better?”

 

Emily nodded, hitting play on the remote. They were sitting some distance from each other, Emily wrapped in a blanket. Amélie made a point of asking and commenting about the things she saw on the movie and the biologist would have answered all of them happily, but she was getting drowsy because of the tea and medication - and, as she found out, Amélie’s voice worked as well as a lullaby for her. She fell asleep and the mermaid thought it was adorable, moving closer to hold her and cuddle that beautiful, rare red hair while watching the human movie.

  


\--

  


From: “Lena Oxton” <LenaThirdOxton@gmail.com.uk>

To: “Fareeha Amari” <PharahAmari@[redacted]>

Subject: Requesting clearance to visit the island

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Greetings Chief Amari,

I humbly require clearance to visit the island for the next three weeks, as I got a leave from RAF after our latest mission and would very much like to spend the time with Ms. Emily D’Nort.

 

As head of security, could you please let me know if that can be arranged and what are the requirements? Thank you in advance!

 

\--

 

From: “Fareeha Amari”<PharahAmari@[redacted]>

To: “Ana Amari” <HorusAmari@[redacted]>

Subject: FW: Requesting clearance to visit the island

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[email attached]

 

Director, what’s our position on that?

 

\--

 

From: “Ana Amari” <HorusAmari@[redacted]>

To: “Fareeha Amari”<PharahAmari@[redacted]>

Subject: RE: FW: Requesting clearance to visit the island

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

You’ve done your research on her already. Paragon behaviour on RAF, fearless, pretty funny too. Let her have her fun, as long as she doesn’t interfere with the research or the ladies. Standard rules apply.

 

\--

 

From: “Fareeha Amari”<PharahAmari@[redacted]>

To: “Lena Oxton” <LenaThirdOxton@gmail.com.uk>

Subject: RE: Requesting clearance to visit the island

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hello Flight Lieutenant Oxton,

We will be delighted to receive you. We only ask that you use your professional email for security reasons, so we can send the proper forms and guidelines. We also need to discuss your transportation.

 

\--

 

From: “Flt. Lt. Oxton” <L.Oxton@[redacted]>

To: “Fareeha Amari” <PharahAmari@[redacted]>

Subject: Changing email and transportation

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Changed to RAF email as requested. I plan on arriving by personal jet if there’s no objection. I assume it’s less expensive for you since I’m the one requesting a visit, and I plan for it to be a surprise for miss D’Nort.

 

\--

 

From: “Fareeha Amari” <PharahAmari@[redacted]>

To: “Flt. Lt. Oxton” <L.Oxton@[redacted]>

Subject: Changing email and transportation

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Very well. Sending the forms, guidelines and coordinates in the attached file. Will contact you later by phone with the password for it. See you soon, Flight Lieutenant.

 

\--

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yumi: Honhonhon... xD


	4. Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yumi: Sorry... We have been late with new chapters... But well... Many things happens Sarah (Sitriga) and I have some unexpected things happen and also procrastinating - feat new ideas about how topic discussed in our fanfic.  
> 

Lena looked at the mirror and smirked at herself, pointing a finger gun to her reflection and giggling at the silly gesture.

She muttered a song while separating clothes, trinkets and usual stuff for the trip. There was a carefully wrapped box - she didn’t remember when in her life she had made sure to wrap one as perfectly as this - that contained a gift for her girlfriend that she missed painfully much, thank you for asking.

She picked it up carefully and put it in a pocket on the suitcase, strapping it properly so it wouldn’t move and possibly break.

Then she remembered - her toothbrush! Why did she always forget it!?

Lena ran to the bathroom and picked it up, along with the toothpaste, and put them in that separate bag she was carrying, then she sat on the couch and sighed. She still had three hours to kill. Going to the airport now would only make her more anxious, and god knew she was almost bursting with unused energy.

_I’m coming Em, I just wish time would pass by quicker, for the love of god…!_

 

_\--_

 

There were better ways to wake up than with a mermaid practicing her speech and repeating sentences from a movie, but it was certainly charming. Emily didn’t get up immediately, just stood there listening to that french singing that was getting more like normal speech every day. Her voice was soft like velvet and wrapped her mind in such a comfortable state that it was difficult to do anything else, in fact.

That, of course, until her cursed phone started buzzing somewhere behind her, probably on the table. Emily groaned and opened her eyes, trying to get up, but a strong arm held her in place. She turned to ask Amélie to let her go, but was surprised by her state.

“Amélie… What…?”

“What?”

Her golden eyes stared at Emily in confusion, as if she didn’t notice how dry she looked. Even her hair looked opaque and burnt.

_Emily just calm down, she is just dehydrated…_

She helped Amélie get out from bed and guided her to the bathroom, she needed water - and a bath could be a good thing now. At least, she was having a lot of fun with the soup.

“Don't put that in your mouth, Amélie!” Emily said in a motherly tone. “Give me a second, ok? Stay here.”

As the mermaid nodded Emily went to the other room to grab her phone. As soon as she reached for it, it stopped buzzing.

 

_Valéria_

_16 missed calls_

_4 messages_

 

Even Lena wouldn’t call so many times.

 

_“Hey, flamey! Where are you? I went to your house and there’s nobody there!”_

  _“Pick the phone, redhead. You can’t be that busy fucking your girl that you can’t answer me for this many hours!”_

 " _Emily, take the fucking call”_

_“Emily I’m about to call the police and say you were kidnapped!”_

 

Emily rolled her eyes. That was something she _really_ didn’t need at the moment.

 

_“Such a drama queen, sacrament!_

_I’m not in London, Va. I didn’t tell you the news because you were on tour, but I’ve been called to work on a government island.”_

Va

_“Whaaat!? You little pretty thing, that is the sort of thing I’d consider an emergency, I would have totally answered your call!”_

_"Besides, I have things to share and you’re living in an island!”_

_“My heart is broken </3” _

 

_“You know who could mend your heart? Lena. She’s home, she’s been eating alone, you could make her some company.”_

 

Va

 _“Oh no no_ **no**.”

 _“She’s too british for me, Fox.The moment I use any slang she'll ask to repeat and I’m not_ **_that_ ** _patient”_

_“Besides, I prefer French, you know that.”_

 

 _“Don’t be like that!. She is nice!”_  

_“Compared to us, she’s almost an angel. You could learn some things with her.”_

 

_Va_

_“Don’t you know that I know she believes that science is kinda magic? And why she hates to eat alone? And how freak is her family?”_

_“I slept with one of her hot brothers anyway, mind you”_

_The bottom line is: You’ve known her for a year. I’ve known her for almost a decade.”_

_“Well, Whatever.”_

_“Tell me about your work. Nolan pissed me off these days, I want to hear good news. Tell me anything”_

 

 _“THIS IS THE BEST JOB I EVER HAD, HANDS DOWN! ....And I can’t talk more about. It’s classified.”_  

_“Who is Nolan?”_

 

_Va._

_“Shame.... Nolan is the new guy I’ve been going out with for some weeks now.”_

 

_“Oh… you change lovers like you change your clothes, girl…”_

 

_Va._

_“Don't act as an angel, redhead. I know you like the palm of my hand with my eyes closed.”_

_“I’m surprised that you’re more than a year with her. Is she that good in bed she hooked you for good?”_

 

Emily was ready to write her a sharp reply when she heard coughing from the bathroom and went to check on Amélie. She had just tasted the soap, from the looks of it, and her expression was hilarious.

 

_“Job is calling me. Bye, Luv!”_

 

_Va._

_“You’re Canadian, Em! Don’t do this, my broken heart can’t take it!”_

 

_“Drama queen. Love you, bye!”_

_Va._

_“You’re lucky I love you, Fox. This city won’t be the same.”_

 

Emily left the phone on the table and ran back to the bathroom. Amélie immediately noticed her and pointed to the soap that now laid on the floor.  
  
“That thing is so strange, it tastes bad and makes me slip all over!” As if to prove the point, Amélie slipped on the bathtub and fell back on the water with an undignified yelp, making Emily laugh.

“You must tell me when you need to go back to water, Amélie. You scared me.”

Amélie looked down, biting her bottom lip.

“Right… but you looked so… in peace. And not doing this” She assumed a more stern expression, frowning.

“I don’t frown like that!” Emily protested, giggling. “I’m  on period, god knows it _does things to a person!”_

 _Like the astounding desire to bang a mermaid_ , her inner voice sang in the back of her mind, but she was quick to shut it.

“What sort of things?” Amélie looked at her again with naive curiosity, and Emily cursed mentally. The _timing…!_

 “Pain and misery, mostly.” She replied, almost too quickly. “You look well enough right now, let’s take you out of there.”

 

\--

 

Outside the night was clear and beautiful. The moon was almost full and cast a silver, almost ethereal light over the land. Both women made their way through the stairs and to the bridge that lead to the lab on the cave, and Emily smiled when Amélie slipped with a natural grace to the pool below them, diving and emerging some distance away. Bathed by moonlight, pushing her hair away from her face, she looked completely stunning.

 _Well,_ Emily thought with herself, _She’s a mermaid. What did you expect?_

She suddenly had the crazy urge to just go and jump in the pool with her. She chuckled at the thought. If Lena was there, she’d probably be super into the idea. She could almost hear her say with a bubbly, adorable tone that they had a floodlight, she’d see the bottom of the pool, and if Emily ran back to the bathroom quick enough it wouldn’t be a mess with her period. It would be alright, no?

No, it wouldn’t.

Lena wasn’t there.

Emily sighed and sat on the wooden flooring, putting her feet in the water.

“What’s wrong?”

In that introspective moment, she didn’t notice Amélie getting closer again. She looked concerned, and Emily shrugged, forcing a tiny smile.

“No, it’s just… I remembered something.”

“Something bad?”

“Well you could say so, I think? It’s more like a matter of perspective, though.”

“You’re sad. Like the tiny people on... TV, right?” Amélie tilted her head a bit and emily nodded. “ When they love someone that they think that loves someone else.”

Amélie’s eyes were slightly reflective, Emily had noticed before, but even if they weren’t, the look she gave her that moment had a strength that didn’t require any fancy feature.

“But they’re stupid.” She continued. “They don’t see that people can share love and be happy together.”

“Beg your pardon?!” Emily blinked, surprised. That was _way_ unexpected.

“It’s confusing…” Amélie said, a bit exasperated. “You humans are confusing. That woman on TV, she was trying the whole time trying to find a… person she wanted to kiss? But her friend clearly loved her too. And she ended up with that awful man that treated her badly.”

Oh, so that’s what it was about! Emily almost laughed. And to think she thought it could be… nah.

“What did you watch while I was sleeping, Amélie?”

“A lot of things.” She leaned on the bridge. “There were some that I didn’t understand at all.”

“Really? Well, you could tell me and I’ll try to explain.”

She nodded and focused on a point before her, clearly trying to find the right words. The sound of rustling leaves, waves and tiny animals were all they heard before Amélie spoke again.

“You miss your friend, right?” She said, quietly. “That’s why you’re sad.”

“Well, I… We’re going to see each other in a month or two. It’s not that bad.” Emily didn’t want to go back to that subject, but there was no ill intention on Amélie’s part. Maybe it would actually help if she talked about it...?

“What I don’t get is why you keep… hm…”

“Yes...?” Emily raised an eyebrow. There it was again. Amélie was trying to tell her something, she knew that, but it wouldn’t come out.

“The tiny people on TV. They had all those problems because they loved one but the one loved other and in fact the three of them loved each other… but they always had to _choose_!” She spat the word like it annoyed her. “Why couldn’t them all be happy with each other when they wanted to?”

“Because… I can’t give you an answer to that, honestly.” Emily bit her lip. “It may be because people love to watch this kind of drama?”

“Do you?” Amélie replied quickly, almost sharply.

“...it depends a lot. What _is_ the problem, Amélie? You’re dancing around it. I thought it was about the couples but it’s clearly more than that…”

Amélie looked at her with the same strength as before, but there was something else this time, a kind of anger that made her eyes shine a bit brighter in the dark.

“You keep saying you miss your friend and don’t look around you, Emily. You’re a rare thing and there are other people that would like to be your friends, _chérie,_ people that can make you feel good too. You don’t need to be so sad about this.”

They just stared at each other for a moment, then Emily closed her eyes and inhaled loudly, holding the air and then releasing. When she spoke again it was in a slow and contained tone that screamed danger.

“You are suggesting that I should dump my girlfriend like a _ragged shirt_ because we don't see each other as much as I’d like, something that is entirely _not her fault_?!”

“Not dump…” Amélie hesitated, confused by the reaction.

“Then what?!”

“Consider other options. See other people!”

Emily froze in a mix of surprise and outrage.

“ _Chérie…”_  

“No” She replied, then got up and shook her head. “ _Don’t start._ ”

The sound of the waves in the distance was suddenly very uncomfortable.

“I can’t even answer this right now.” Emily said, incredulous. “Good night, Amélie.”

With that she walked away, her steps loud and angry on the wood planks.

Amélie stood there some time after the sound of the door closing faded. She knew she had to apologize, but she didn’t know _why_ , and it made her miserable; hurting Emily was the last thing she wanted when she made that suggestion. 

 _Humans are so complicated_ , she thought with herself, sighing.

It was time to go. Staying there, feeling bad about herself would solve nothing, even if it was tempting. Amélie vanished to the underwater silently, and that beautiful night suddenly felt too cold and melancholic on her wake.

 

\--

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yumi: And if someone have any curiosity about Valéria (my baby oc with Sarah). Like how she looks like. Here a picture to you all have a idea. 'u'  
> https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350825927459995648/411142776533549058/Valeria_BFF_da_Emily_-_wty_mermaid_au.png  
> See you all in the next chapter o7


	5. The storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheers loves, Sitriga here o/ 
> 
> Thank you for staying with us so far, you rock!
> 
> Today we have the moment we all waited for: A certain pilot is coming to town...

 

Mabel Island had a lot of caves. Most of them were underwater and near the shore, but there were some, often remarkable, that breached the heart of the island. Humans came to know of those fairly recently, with the advent of their tricky, delicate machines that worked in wavelengths the species with heightened hearing could find annoying. Mermaids, however, were a different matter.

One of those recluse caves had lights like stars on its high clearance, and they cast a blue glow on the rocky walls covered in drawings. All sorts of things were depicted there, from the most common marine fish to humans and symbolic icons. It was a huge cave, covered in centuries of mermaid stories.

Amélie was there, finishing something. She had gone out of the way to find the right pigments, but it was worthy it - that flaming red was unmistakable and beautiful, and her piece just wouldn’t be the same without it.

It was a portrait of two people, and Emily was almost finished. Amélie could draw her features by heart now, the elegant curve of her neck, the intelligent smile… She gave special attention to the eyes, often so expressive, and the freckles. Those little spots fascinated her.

The other person was not so easy. She had to steal a photo from Emily's lab, put it in one of the waterproof boxes she was showed some days before and swim all the way to the cave in order to ensure she'd draw her right. There was no messing Emily's friend if she wanted that to be her apology gift, after all.

This was the fourth day since their argument. Amélie watched from afar for two days, unable to tell what she did wrong. On the night of the second, she sneaked into the lab when Emily was gone and grabbed a tablet from a cabinet. Maybe the human thing (internet) could help her, even if she didn’t quite understand how it worked yet.

Amélie had been watching closely as Emily sent voice commands to a tablet before and, noticing her interest, the ginger set an user account unlocked by facial recognition and showed her how to use it. She was glad she remembered everything as the thing glowed with a blue light, signaling she was recognized. 

_ ”Guest user access granted. How can I help you?” _

The slightly robotic feminine voice came out of nowhere, startling Amélie, making her drop the tablet and run - or rather, bounce - back to the water. After a minute or so, after she asserted there was in fact no danger, she decided it was ok to come back.

She picked the thing up and whispered, warily: “Friend… help… I said something bad...”

_ “I cannot hear you. Please talk a bit louder.” _

Amélie frowned. That was proving more difficult than she anticipated. What if she couldn’t find her answer…?

“ _ Commencing facial recognition utility… Result: You look sad.” _

The mermaid raised an eyebrow.

“Of course! But… What is sad… Exactly?”

_ “Searching… more than 114.000.000 results found in 0,47 seconds. First result, as found in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadness: Sadness is an emotional pain associated with, or characterized by, feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, grief, helplessness, disappointment and sorrow. An individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and withdraw themselves from others. An example of severe sadness is depression. Crying can be an indication of sadness.” _

Now those were a lot of words coming from something so small. Amélie was impressed and a little bit confused, but it was not the time to back down.

“I want to know how can I help a friend who has a girlfriend?” She sang.

The tablet made a soft beep and replied:  _ “11.300.000 results for “How can I help a friend who has a girlfriend” in 0,68 seconds. First result…” _

Amélie had the tablet enter dozens of websites to try to understand how to help. She found a lot of stuff she didn’t want to know, some interesting facts, and ultimately she discovered that the she had to search for the line where the concept of girlfriend differed between the human and merfolk societies.

There was not a clear answer, but after 30 results, she felt like she somewhat grasped what she did wrong and why Emily was upset.

According to the human thing, girlfriends were not just girls  _ and _ friends, they were partners. She didn’t have a clue about it and it made her mad. Who had the brilliant idea to use the same word for those two types of relationships? It was true they were two kinds of love, but for people like her, that didn’t know the difference previously, it could get  _ very confusing.  _ Anyway, there was more to it: humans seemed to have an implied contract with their partners, something heavily cultural that demanded they could only have one at a time. Amélie saw videos - on a place with lots of them, apparently - of happy girlfriends enjoying their time together, videos on the whole concept of love, of humans that didn’t follow the norm and were stigmatized, people that didn’t want to have partners at all, people being pressed on to have engagements and start families... All of that didn’t seem very healthy in her eyes, but it was human culture and she couldn’t judge, as she wasn’t really a part of it. 

More importantly, the research opened her eyes to what offended Emily, making Amélie really embarrassed. She didn’t mean to sound like she wanted the girlfriend gone, she was merely, casually,  _ totally uninterestedly  _ suggesting that Emily could  _ add _ more people to this side of her life.

Well, it wouldn’t do good to cry over it at the time. She needed to apologize.

The third and now fourth days were dedicated to making the apology gift. She just finished the brunette girlfriend with weird hair and took some distance to look at it, proud of her creation. Now, she just had to show Emily and hope for the best.

She put the photo carefully on the waterproof box and dove. The underwater caves were a dark maze that glowed with bioluminescent algae, and it was pretty easy to get lost in there. Amélie herself did it some times before, but now she was used to the trip and did it almost effortlessly.

As the coast drew nearer, she felt the waters change more than she’d have anticipated. The stream was wilder, the water, colder, full of twigs and leaves. She previously thought there might be raining on the surface - now she knew for sure it was a storm.

When Amélie surfaced in the lab, it was clear that Emily wouldn’t be there. Even in the protect recess she could feel the strong gust of wind and the spray of cold rain, it was no weather for an human to be under. The lab itself was set for the storm: Emily locked the expensive equipment in waterproof cabinets that were, in turn, covered in canvas with the rest of the furniture, and everything was tied down to the floor, just in case the waves were strong enough to break there and take away anything. Even if they were protected, better not take unnecessary chances.

Amélie pulled herself out of the water and near the furniture. Would it be safe to place the photo there? She took a peek under the canvas and found a space between a cabinet and a desk that would accommodate the box well. Work done, she went back to the pool near one of the natural entrances and leaned on the rock column, watching the pouring rain. It was quite paradoxical that something so strong and relentless was also so calming to watch... 

Then she saw it: Far away, among the storm clouds, a shape darted across the sky like an arrow and fell in a wide arch into the sea near the island.

Amélie dove almost immediately. She had to know what it was.

 

\--

 

Of all the ways to die, Lena didn’t think it would be drowning. She had mused if she’d be old and happy, dying on her sleep, if she’d get sick, or even f she’d go heroically in service, her jet pierced by enemies, her mind not even aware before it all exploded.

Drowning was too ironic. Flashes of her childhood came to mind as she struggled to get rid of the seatbelt, her kid-self flailing tiny arms to keep her head over the water and failing, the utter terror that took hold... Lena forced the memories to the back of her mind as the plane hit the seafloor and she finally freed herself, swimming to the door..The training she had was keeping her emotions at bay for the moment, but it would be for nothing if she didn’t get out of there soon.

Unlocking and opening the door was a bit tricky because of the water pressure, but Lena was strong enough to manage it after a couple of attempts. There was only the sea now, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold her breath. 

She used the door to get impulse and swim up, hoping desperately that she could make it to the surface. She had to get there. Lena Oxton would not die so near the island where her girlfriend was, as some sort of sick joke.

But the water there was so cold and everything was so dark… How much more would it take? Her lungs burnt, squeezing the last of air. Everything was heavy. It was  _ not _ looking good for her.

 

What would Emily do when she learnt she died such a stupid death?  
  


Lena thought of her family devastated before her newly-placed tomb, and felt so alone there in the dark. It was useless fighting. Her movements were slowing down as the oxygen deprivation acted, her sensations were numb; she was slipping away.  
  


_ I’m so sorry, Em… _  
  


A tiny bluish-violet glow caught her attention as her vision blurred. It was coming closer and closer, and the last thing Flight Lieutenant Lena Oxton thought before her conscience dissolved into nothing was how curious it was that it had the shape and face of a woman.

  
  


\--

  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Yumi Again just saying thanks for reading <3


End file.
